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Comment on Apple Sells Three Million iPads in Three Daysparent

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No evidence points in that direction. It'd be possible if Apple had only a small amount of loyal customers (like in the nineties), but obviously they do not.

You're saying there's no evidence that the mass market would buy things they might not need just because marketing tells them they should? There are a lot of people who buy the latest clothing fashions or buy a new car every year/two years when the newest model comes out, a lot more than a "small amount of loyal customers".

How many people bought netbooks only to find out they had no real use for one? Now tell me that people wouldn't do the same thing for a product they actually do find genuinely useful. Find where that intersects with the people who have a need for the new features of the latest iPad and you'll find the number of people who are buying the newest version of the hot device simply because they want the newest version.

What do you really need? I still meet people all the time who adore their netbooks (though many did also ditch them as soon as they actually had to use them – I’m seeing that with some tablets, not so often with iPads).

Besides, why do you assume that those people are buying their second iPad? Maybe they are buying an iPad for their kids? Maybe those who didn’t want to get one because of price are now buying one?

I really don’t get that tablets are supposedly not useful. I love my tablet. I use it all the time to read, surf, browse and write e-mails. It does nearly all the things I used to love doing on my PC so much better. It’s just all-around awesome in every respect, worth every single cent. Simply perfect. There has been no other computer I ever owned I liked as much as my tablet. I would not be surprised if quite a few other people also feel that way, maybe to a lesser degree.

I didn't claim that tablets were not needed or that they are not useful. I actually stated otherwise; the intersection between people who need the latest features and the people who are upgrading. I'm also not arguing that these people are not simply buying a new iPad. I'm just trying to argue against the parent's opinion that it's not possible for people to upgrade simply to have the latest tech.

There was a story on front page how Android tablets are winning market from Apple. I guess that is too a product of marketing?

The inference I get from your comment is that you feel I was arguing that people don't have a need for tablets. This isn't true, I specifically stated otherwise. What I was addressing is the notion that it's not possible for a large part of the market to do year-over-year (or 6 month) upgrades to the iPad they already own.

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